US: 2 Dead, 5 Wounded In Shooting After High School Graduation Ceremony In Virginia, Suspect In Custody

Police arrested a suspect, a 19-year-old man, Interim Richmond Police Chief Rick Edwards said at a news conference, reported Associated Press.

Two people were shot dead, and five others were left with injuries, after a gunman opened fire near Virginia Commonwealth University

Source : Getty

New Delhi: Two people were shot dead, and five others were left with injuries, after a gunman opened fire near Virginia Commonwealth University in the United States following a high school graduation ceremony on Tuesday, according to police and school district officials.

Police arrested a suspect, a 19-year-old man, Interim Richmond Police Chief Rick Edwards said at a news conference, reported Associated Press.

According to Richards, police will charge him with two counts of second-degree murder in addition to other possible offenses.

At least 12 others were injured or treated for anxiety due to the mayhem.

Edwards said that the officers inside the theater heard gunfire around 5:15 pm and radioed to police stationed outside, who found multiple victims upon reaching.

The identities of those in custody and those injured were not immediately released.

“We’re going to do everything we can to bring the individuals who were involved in this to justice. ... This should not be happening anywhere," Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney said at the news conference, as per Associated Press.

Edwards informed that the two victims who died were both male, ages 18 and 36. Their names were not released, but police believe the suspect, who was not immediately identified, knew at least one of the victims.

School board member Jonathan Young told Richmond TV station WWBT that graduates and other attendees were exiting the building when they heard about 20 gunshots in rapid succession.

“That prompted, as you would expect, hundreds of persons in an effort to flee the gunfire to return to the building,” Young said.

“It materialized in a stampede,” he said.

Richmond Public Schools Superintendent Jason Kamras said the new graduates were outside taking photos with families and friends when the shooting broke out.

“I don’t have any more words on this,” Kamras said.

“I’m just tired of seeing people get shot, our kids get shot. And I beg of the entire community to stop, to just stop,” Kamras added.

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